


The Kids Find Out

by OrionRedde, Shyrstyne



Series: Cometverse [33]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Gen, Nonbinary Character, fessing up to being an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 18:55:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18816982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionRedde/pseuds/OrionRedde, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyrstyne/pseuds/Shyrstyne
Summary: The kids are having a good time at Twilight Town and decide to go visit Comet. Things Are Revealed.





	The Kids Find Out

  Kairi yelps as Xion slams into her, the panther giggling victoriously as they roll in the grass. Kairi snarls playfully and nips at Xion’s ear, kicking her legs into their stomach. The sun filtering through the leaves is warm on her fur. Birds and insects chirp and buzz through the air. Nearby, Roxas and Sora giggle and roll around just as she and Xion are doing. Riku reclines on a branch above, far out of reach of any attempts to drag him into the great battle below. 

  Speaking of.

  With a heave of effort, Kairi manages to roll Xion off of her, tossing them down the incline of the forest. Xion yelps, letting themselves roll down the hill as Kairi chases them. Kairi pounces with an exultant yip. She’s missed Xion and Roxas!

  “FOR THE GLORY!” Roxas yowls, and suddenly both him  _ and  _ Sora have joined in. Kairi shrieks with laughter, her world blending into a mishmash of spotted and dark furs, limbs, and blue and purple eyes. Her heart warms with  _ contentment  _ and  _ pack  _ and  _ love.  _ She breathes in their scents - dust motes in sunshine (Roxas), seashell bone and salt (Xion), and the cool depths of a forgotten cave (Sora). Eventually they all settle into a pile. Kairi patiently grooms a mat on Roxas’ side as Xion carefully untangles twigs from Kairi’s tail. Sora purrs contentedly, chin propped up on Xion’s shoulder.

  She is  _ so happy  _ that she’s here with them.

  “Before you all fall asleep,” Riku calls from his branch, “do you want to go eat?” 

  “ _ Stars  _ yes,” Kairi responds, rising to all fours and shaking her fur out.

  “Let’s go see Comet!” Sora chirps. “I haven’t seen them in a while!”

  “Neither have we!” Xion adds. “I’ve missed them and Lea!”

  Kairi gathers her stuff - she’d discarded her clothes because she didn’t want to get grass stains on them - and stows them in her inventory. Riku lands next to her with a grunt, knees bending at the impact. He passes a hand through her fur, sending a thrill of energy down her spine, before starting back towards town. The group remains calm as they trot through the streets. Kairi primly takes the lead with Riku as the cats jostle each other a little behind them. Riku silently rolls his eyes at her and she snickers.

  They go through the back door, carefully sidling through crates and shelves to get to the bar proper. Sora edges ahead to take the lead, taking the stairs two at a time with Kairi nipping at his heels. Sora throws open the door to Comet’s apartment. Kairi gracefully leaps over him - nah, just kidding, she runs him over along with Roxas and Xion.

  “Hi, Comet!” Kairi chirps, spotting Comet sitting in the arm chair. “Where’s L-”

  Everybody freezes. 

  There’s a strange werewolf sprawled out on the couch.

  Kairi bristles, back arching and an unsure growl bubbling in her throat. Who the  _ fuck  _ is this?! She peers at this new wolf invading her untie’s home.

  Red fur ranging from blood red to bright scarlet. Thick black claws with the sparkly remains of nail polish on them. Acid green eyes.

  Very  _ familiar  _ green eyes.

_ “Lea?!”  _ Kairi yelps.

  “What  _ happened?!”  _ Roxas whines.

  The red wolf - Lea and  _ holy shit what the actual fuck  _ \- turns to Comet with a panicked look, eyes wide and ears pinned back. Comet silently sips their tea and gives him a bland expression. Lea whines but gives them a nervous grin.

  “Uh, surprise?” Lea manages, head lowering and shoulders hunching.

  “Lea?” Xion whimpers, nudging closer to Kairi for comfort. “What  _ happened?” _

  Lea gives a gusty sigh, looking down for a moment before lifting his head and unhunching his shoulders.

   “I was born a were,” he says firmly, if a little shakily. “But when I lost my heart, I stopped changing. Hell, even when I got it back I didn’t shift, not even with the full moon. I thought I… I thought I wasn’t a were anymore, and I didn’t want to think about it. So I didn’t say anything.”

  “To  _ anyone,”  _ Comet finally speaks up, voice flat. Lea winces, ears flicking back, but accepts the rebuke for what it is.

  Kairi’s mind races, pieces slotting into place with horrible efficiency. He hadn’t changed since he lost his heart. That was over ten years ago. He only  _ just  _ shifted last full moon, which wasn’t even a week ago.

  “Oh my  _ God,”  _ Kairi breathes, feeling hot tears well up. “You’ve been suppressed for over a  _ decade.” _

  Sora makes a wounded noise and rushes forward, Kairi and the twins not far behind him. Lea yelps but  _ tough shit.  _ Kairi sniffs him over frantically, whining and whimpering and crying as she smells fading hurt and sickness. This is  _ bad.  _ Lea’s going to hurt for a very long time, and he hadn’t told  _ anybody  _ that he was a were. Did… did he not…?

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Riku suddenly asks, voice thick with worry. “We could have helped.”

  “Did you not trust us?” Xion sobs, voice breaking.

  Lea whines, high and hurting, and immediately draws Xion into a crushing embrace. Roxas wriggles in, too, mewing in distress.

  “No, cub, no, I trust you,” Lea whispers, nuzzling and grooming. “I was really sad and hurt, and I didn’t want to poison you with that. I should’ve at least talked to Comet or Merlin. That’s my fault. I should’ve known better.”

  “You should’ve,” Kairi sniffles mulishly, burying her face into Lea’s thick scruff. She breathes deeply through her nose, taking in his scent. He smells like his favorite soap, the woodsmoke of his magic (sour and thick with his distress), and his distinctive  _ Lea  _ smell. She notices that it’s changed. Before, when he was Axel, he had smelled like fire, and  _ only  _ fire. After he recompleted, Lea still smelled like fire, but it was tempered with the almost muddled, spicy smell of  _ Lea _ , but it had been strange, muffled. Like his scent couldn’t quite decide what it was.

  Lea’s  _ Lea  _ smell is like… really strong cinnamon and mulled wine.

  Something twinges in the back of Kairi’s mind. Something old, and hidden in the mists of Before.

  Kairi takes another deep sniff, sticking her nose into Lea’s hair, his shoulder ruff, under his jaw. She can almost  _ taste  _ the hidden memories. She just has to  _ reach  _ them. 

  She circles around to sniff around the other side of Lea’s chest. Roxas and Xion get up and circle around, too, sniffing and assessing Lea’s state now that they’ve cried their feelings out. Lea ducks his head down, pressing his nose against the back of Kairi’s neck as she sniffs his other shoulder. He freezes, then takes a deeper inhale, like Kairi did. Does he know her? Did she know him, back in the Garden? Kairi’s too busy thinking about possibilities to ask him, sniffing around his neck and face as he does the same to her, brows furrowed and gaze distant.

  Kairi can  _ almost  _ figure it out, she  _ swears  _ she can. She just needs another hint, another clue,  _ anything. _

  “Kairi? Lea?” Comet suddenly speaks up. “Is everything okay?”

  Neither of them answer. Not now, untie, Kairi  _ almost  _ has it! Almost!

  Sora shoves his muzzle up next to Kairi and Lea, jaws parted slightly to taste the air as he scents them both. Bless him, he’s trying to help with the mystery. Kairi will try to remember this but right now she’s too busy trying to connect the dots. Spices. It all comes down to spices. Gramma, her only family from Radiant Garden she remembers, smelled like nutmeg and caramel. Sora often says that Kairi smells like ginger and coriander. It’s a stretch, but maybe…? If only her  _ stupid fucking memory  _ would give her something!

  “...why do you and Lea smell like family?” Sora speaks up.

  Kairi feels her blood  _ freeze. _ She’s paralyzed, thoughts quieting, her mind so suddenly empty it echoes. She doesn’t react as Lea renews his scenting, shoving his nose into her hair, her neck, her shoulders, her ruff. She can almost hear the faintest of whines coming from his throat.

  “Kairi?” He asks desperately, voice coming to her as if through thick walls. “Kai? Are you  _ my  _ Kairi? Are you Mischief?”

_ “Princess  _ Mischief,” she corrects automatically, falling into a habit she  _ doesn’t even remember she has.  _

  Kairi bursts into tears.

  “Oh, shit, shh, Kairi, shh, shh, shh,” Lea soothes, drawing her into an embrace and nuzzling into her hair. She buries her face into his chest as she sobs, heart and mind  _ aching  _ for something she doesn’t even remember she lost. “You’re okay, cub, you’re okay.  _ Breathe.” _

  Kairi forces her sobs to stop so she can take deep breaths, willing herself to calm down. Or at least not have a meltdown. Lea rumbles and grooms her hair. Sora and the twins curl close to her, adding their own support and comforting purrs. Kairi sniffles, wiping her eyes with the back of one paw.

  “ ‘m sorry,” she says, voice wavering.

  “For what?” Lea asks, muzzle resting on top of her head.

  “I didn’t recognize you,” Kairi sniffs miserably. “What kind of family am I that I don’t know who you are?”

  “Okay, then  _ I  _ should be sorry for not recognizing you,” Lea counters. “I’m the one who was old enough to remember the Garden before it fell.”

  “Why  _ didn’t  _ you know who she was?” Riku asks.

  “Kairi was a pretty common name in the Garden,” Comet explains. “I can remember like five Kairis off the top of my head besides our own princess over there.”

  “I thought you were just another Kairi,” Lea says, guilt creeping into his voice. “I thought that you were  _ dead. _ I didn’t even think to hope that you were  _ my  _ Kairi. And I sure as hell couldn’t smell you to make sure.”

  “You didn’t smell right,” Kairi says. “As Axel you only smelled like fire, and then before now your scent was kinda muddled, like it couldn’t decide what you were supposed to be.”

  “Well, shit, that’s probably the suppression,” Lea huffs. “Yet another reason why I should’ve talked to you guys, huh?”

  “Yep,” Comet snarks, popping the  _ p _ . 

  “I’m sorry,” Lea apologizes sincerely. “I’ll be better about this.”

  “You  _ better _ ,” Xion huffs.

  “What would Gramma say about all that, huh?” Kairi pipes up, wiping at her face and feeling more like herself again. “Hiding something like this. Who the hell do you think you are?”

  “Well, I’m Lea, first of all,” Lea drawls, giving her a droll look. “And I’m your cousin, in case you were wondering. And Gramma would’ve tweaked my ears off, cussed me out, and then fed me until I couldn’t even blink.”

  Kairi slowly reaches up a paw. Lea snorts and smacks her paw down, trapping it under his own.

  “No,” he huffs. “You’re not nearly old and wrinkly enough to do that.”

  “Isa and I already beat the snot out of him with pillows,” Comet tells them.

  There’s a moment of silence.

  Roxas grabs a pillow and thwacks Lea on the back of the head.

  “Ow! Hey!” Lea barks, turning and snapping his teeth harmlessly at Roxas. “Why?!”

  “For being a dumbass!” Roxas growls back, bopping Lea on the head again. Xion grabs their own pillow and smacks Lea too.

  “And not telling us!” They cry, lifting their pillow like a battle axe.

  Sora and Riku each grab their own pillows and join the fray.

  “And for making us worry!” Sora yowls, smacking Lea in the shoulder.

  “Get him!” Kairi howls, grabbing Lea by the neck and rolling him off the couch.

  The cubs descend on him with a battlecry, Lea yelping and laughing as he tries to fend them off. Comet roars with laughter in the armchair. Kairi takes in the smells again - ozone (Comet), a forgotten cave (Sora), seashell and salt (Xion), dust motes in sunbeams (Roxas), cool and damp earth (Riku), and finally strong cinnamon and mulled wine (Lea). 

  Her  _ family. _

**Author's Note:**

> Because this is the most self-indulgent AU ever, yes we made Kairi and Lea be related. _Because we can._ Also I (Orion) saw a quite-frankly adorable post or twenty of this sort of thing on tumblr and fell instantly in love. Also these two have Big Family Energy.   
>  We do what we want.  
>  Also let's give a big round of applause to Lea for admitting to being stupid and saying he'll do better. He's growing as a person and we love our big Clifford-lookin' ass idiot.


End file.
